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1-6 of 6
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Sultry, sleepy-eyed Argentine brunette Mona Maris was born Rosa Emma Mona Maria Marta Capdevielle, of Spanish-French parentage. Her well-to-do background ensured a quality education with an emphasis on foreign languages. Mona mastered three of them, but, alas, English was not among them. This mattered little early on, as her career began in silent films in 1925, first in England and France, then with Universum AG in Germany. Moving to the U.S. in 1929, she was signed by Fox to co-star opposite Warner Baxter in two above-average westerns: Romance of the Rio Grande (1929) and the The Arizona Kid (1930) (in which she was rather overshadowed by a young Carole Lombard). In fairness, neither film gave her much to do, except be ornamental. In 'Arizona Kid', she was also unwisely permitted to sing, which was not her forte. Combined with her rather strained command of English, it was somewhat inevitable that she would find herself relegated to acting in a string of Spanish-language versions of American films.
Mona Maris is remembered today less for her sojourn in Hollywood, than for her on-screen chemistry with legendary singer Carlos Gardel in the musical drama Cuesta abajo (1934). Filmed in Argentina, it co-starred Mona as a femme fatale and proved to be her defining screen role. She auditioned for the part via telephone from the Paramount lot (having just completed shooting of Kiss and Make-Up (1934)) for French-born director Louis J. Gasnier, winning out over fellow candidates Raquel Torres and Rosita Montenegro. "Cuesta abajo" was well-received upon its release in the U.S., becoming the most successful Spanish-language film up to that time. Following Gardel's untimely death in 1935, Mona absented herself from the screen for six years.
She returned to Hollywood again in the early 40's, free-lancing for most of the majors, in films like The Falcon in Mexico (1944) and Tampico (1944). Even though, her English was now fluent, she remained mostly typecast as south-of-the-border senoritas. After an uncredited bit in the Bob Hope comedy Monsieur Beaucaire (1946), her career wound down with a third-billed part in a third rate swashbuckler for Republic, The Avengers (1950). Shortly after that, she called it a day and in 1960 retired to Lima, Peru, with her second husband, Dutch millionaire Herman Rick.- Susumu Fujita was born on 8 January 1912 in Fukuoka, Japan. He was an actor, known for The Hidden Fortress (1958), Sanshiro Sugata (1943) and Yojimbo (1961). He died on 23 March 1991 in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan.
- Maria Belzares was born in 1927 in Venezuela. She was an actress, known for El rey (1976), Llanto por Juan Indio (1965) and Volver, volver, volver (1977). She was married to Raúl Boxer. She died on 23 March 1991 in Mexico, D.F., Mexico.
- Sergey Zhikharev was born in 1959 in the USSR. He was an actor, known for I Don't Want to Be a Grown-Up (1983). He died on 23 March 1991.
- Make-Up Department
Albert Paradis was born on 28 May 1948. He is known for Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol (1987), Police Academy 3: Back in Training (1986) and Class of 1984 (1982). He died on 23 March 1991.- Producer
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Félix Tusell was a producer and writer, known for Eyeball (1975), Pares y nones (1982) and The Old Music (1985). He was married to Mercedes Sánchez Rau. He died on 23 March 1991 in Kenya.